Check-punch



m e e ,h S w av e h S 2 L J M A H A. .N S O R B O. nu d. d 0 M 0 /N\ CHECK PUNCH.

Patented Feb. 15,' 1898.

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(No Model.) 2' Sheets-Sheet 2.

C. 0. BROSNAHAM, Jr.

CHECK PUNCH.

No. 599,163. Patented Feb. 15,1898.

J f F1761 A TTOHNE Y S.

NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE OTHMAN BROSNAHAM, JR., OF PENSACOLA, FLORDA.

CHECK-PUNCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 599,163, dated February 15, 1898.

Application filed July 30, 18977. Serial N0. 646,502. (No model.)

To a/ZZ whom it may concern: Be it known that I, GEORGE OTHMAN BRos- NAHAM, J r., of Pensacola, in the county of Escambia and State of Florida, have invented a new and Improved CheckPunch, of which the following is a full,clear, and exact description. The object of the invention is to provide a new and improved check-punch arranged for conveniently punching the amount of a check both in letters -and numerals instead of writing the same to prevent persons froml fraudulently erasing the amount of the check.

The invention consists of certain parts and details and combinations of the same, as will be fully described hereinafter and then pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure l is a front elevation of the improve# ment. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same with the cover removed. Fig. 3 is a like view of the anvil-shifting device in a different position from that shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 4v is a sectional side elevation of the improvement on the line 4 4 of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a transverse section of the same on the line 5 5 of Fig. l. Fig. 6 is a cross-section of the anvil and shifting device therefor in the position corresponding to that shown in Fig. 3. Fig. 7 is a cross-section of the perforating devices with one of the letter-dies depressed. Fig. 8 is 'a crosssection of the improvement on the line 8 8 of Fig. 4; and Fig. 9 is a plan view of a check, showing letter perforations.

The improved check-punch is mounted in a suitably-constructed casing A, supporting at or near its middle two horizontally-disposed partitions B B', of which the lower partition B projects in front of the other` partition B' to form a table for a check to rest on, it being understood that the partitions are placed but a short distance apart, so as to hold the check in place during the perforating process, as hereinafter more fully described.

In the partitions B B' are tted to slide lon-l gitudinally two sets of dies C and D, of which the set of dies C is for perforating letters in the check (see Fig. 9) and the other set of dies is for perforating the ycheck. with numerals,

both perforations indicating the `amount of the check and taking the place of the amount as now written in by hand in the body of the check. The sets of dies O and D are heldon a carriage E, fitted to slide on the partitions B B',Y so as to bring the desired numeral or letter to a desired place on the check, as here-v inafter'more fully described.

T he dies C and D are provided with the lower or female dies C' D' andthe male dies C2 D2, respectively, in the form of pins arn ranged to represent letters and numerals and adapted to pass into. apertures formed -in the female dies C' D', respectively. The male dies C2 D2are secured on spring-pressed stems C3 D3, respectively fitted to slide vertically in suitable guideways in the carriage E, and the upper end of the said stems are adapted to be engaged by an anvil F for pressing the male dies downward to force the pins thereof through the paper into the female dies, it being understood that the said dies are normallyheld in an uppermost position by the action of theirl springs. The anvil F is fitted to slide transversely in a suitable guideway formed in a lever F', fulcrumed on the front end of the casing at F2, and the said anvil F is shifted in the said lever F', so as to stand either over the stem C3 or the stem D3 of the dies C and D. The anvil F is for this purpose pivotally connected by a link F3 with the arm F4 of a bell-crank lever F5, fulcrumed on the lever F', at the outer end thereof, the said bell-crank lever being triangular in crosssection, displaying on the sides the legends Letters and Figures Thus when the bell-crank lever F5 is in the position shown in Fig. 2 the legend Letters is at the front of the lever, thus indicating that the anvil F is over the set of dies C, and when the said lever F5 is swung around to the position shown in Fig. 3 then the. legendv Figures7 is visible at the front of the machine to india cate that the anvil F is over the set of dies D, as shown in Fig. 6.

From the carriage E depends a fork E', en gaged by the inner end .of a-.lever Gr, fulv crumed on and fitted to slide on a longitu dinally-extending rod G', secured in the sides of the casing A. The outer end of the lever IOO of the casing A, as is plainly indicated in .the drawings, and on this outer end of the said lever is formed a finger-piece G2, adapted to be engaged by a finger of the operator to press the lever or to slide the same longitudinally on the rod G'. On the outer end of this lever G is also secured a pointer G3, indieating on graduations H H', of which the gradua-tion H represents the letters of the alphabet corresponding to the letters formed by the pins of the dies C, and the graduation H' represents the numerals from O to 97 the dollar-mark, and a star, all corresponding to the numerals and correspondingcharacters represented by the pins of the dies D. Thus when the pointer G3, for instance, indicatesou the letter F on` the graduation H then` the die C representing'tliisletter F is directly over the anvil F, provided thel latter isin a forward position. F isin a rearmost position and`= the pointer? GS indicates on the numeral "7 of the grad'- nation H' then the die D representing the nu- 1neral`7 iis directly under the saidanvi'l F. Thus if the anvil F is pressed, in the first: case-,the letter F will be perforated inthe paper, and in the second case the anvil F,

pressing on thedie D, willcause aperfo'rationY in the paper representing thenumeral 7.

The inner end of the lever G also engages-thev under side of.v alever-frame I, fulcrumed'at I' inthe sides of the casing A, andthe rearend of the said lever-frame is pivotally connected by a linkI2 withthe free end of theule'ver F',se that Ywhen the nger-piece G2 is pressedidown wardl after the lever G has been moved tothe proper position--that is, with the pointer in-` dicating on: the desired letter or numeralon the graduation H or H-then alswingingmo`v tion isgi ven to the lever-frame I to draw'the'- linkP-downward and swingthe leverF' inl the same direction.v Thelever F' duri-ngthis downward movement brings the anvil F in: contactwith the stem C3 or D8 of the corre` mally in the position shown in Fig. 5 and to return the` said leverframe I' and the lever` G to their former positions when the operator releases the pressure on thewnger-piece G2.`

The link I2, above mentioned, is also slidV i'ngly connected with a transversely-extending: lever J, fulcrumed at J on a bracket B2,

attached tothe partition B. This lever .I ispivotally connectedJ with a pawl J2, pressed on by a spring J3 and'engaging. ratchet-'teeth K', formed on a feed-roller K, jonnnaled in:

suitable bearings on thefpa-rtition B, withthe upper surface of the said roller'flush withV the top surface of said partition B. Directlyl above this feed-roller K isarranged a secondi feed-roller L, journaled in bearings L",fittedi to slide vertically in guidewaysattached to the upper partition B', and the said bearings If the anvil= 3 I ,1 swinging motion is given to the levers I and on the forward end of the casing A, the rear end of the said lever being pivotally connected by a link N5 with a lever N7, extending through a slot in the forward end of the casing to carry on this outer end a linger-piece N8, adapted to be engaged and pressed by the l operator. A spring N6 presses on the link N5 to hold the several parts normally in the porsition` shown in Fig. S-ithat is, holding the i` rollerJL down close on the paper betweenthe feedLrollersK and IL.

Now whenl thel lever G9 is-pressed and a QF to act'uate the corresponding die by the anvil` F, as above described, then a downwardly-swinging motion is given'to thelever v J to cause the pawl J 2 to glide over the ratchet- Now when the lever G is released 3 and the several parts are returned to their former positions', then the lever .I is caused to swing upward, and the pawl J2`now turns the feed-roller K, so as to move the paper vlongitudinally from the right to the left to lbring another unoccupied space under the dies. The downward-swinging,motion .of the y lever G is linited by the said lever striking on notchesGformedi inthe front of the casing Aas is plainly indicated in Figs. l and 5,

the said notches being of alike depth, with theexception of.A the last one, G5, which is but jene-half the depth; of the notches G4. rIlhe notch G5`is engaged when the lever G hasbeen shifted'to its outermost position at the righthandf side 'for spacing between two words in itheamount to be' written. When the lever G is now successively pressed and released, lthe pawl J2 moves the roller K the distance between two teeth instead of` between three teeth K, as is the case when the lever is fpressed into any ofthe other notches G4. Thus when the lever G` is pressed down to the bottom of a notch` G4 the paper is moved the width of.' one character, letter, numeral, or the `like indicated on the graduations H H', and whenthe lever G is pressed to the bottom ofthe notch G5 then the paper is shifted kabou'tone-half the width of ailetter, numeral, or the like to form the proper space between itwo words.`

In order to limit the rearward movement ofthe check whenintroducedin the machine 4and bring the line of' thecheck on whichthe @amount is to be written directly under the corresponding die C or D, I provide alongijtudinally-extending stop-bar O, arranged be- 4tween the two partitions B B in therear of @the dies D. This stopbar O is provided at :its ends with rearwardly-extending arms O',

IIO

pivotally connected with. the, upper ends of levers O2, fulcrumed at O3 onthe sides of the casing and pivotally connected with a for- Wardly-extending bar O4, extending through an opening in the front of the casing A, to the outside thereof, the outer .end of the bar O4 being provided with a knob O5, adapted to be taken hold of by the operator to shift the said bar O4 inward or outward to move the stopbar forward or rearward between the partitions B and B', according to the size of the check or lines thereon.

In order to gage the position of the stop-bar O, I provide the forward end of the bar O4 with a graduation O6, reading on the front face of the' casing A. This graduation indicates the distance from the top of the check to the line on which the amount is to be perforated and this distance corresponds to that between the forward edge of the stop-bar O and the corresponding dies D or C.

On the bar O4, at the graduation O6, are arranged collars 07, with set-screws or other fastening devices to hold the bar O in place after once adjusted to a certain'size check.

The operation is as follows: The check to be perforated is introduced over the partition B and passes between the two partitions B and B at the time the linger-piece Ns'is pressed, and the feed-roller L is lifted a suitable distance above the top of the feed-roller Kto allow of passing the check transversely between the partitions until the rear end of the check abuts against the stop-bar O. The operator then releases the pressure on the finger-piece N8 to allow the feed-roller L to come down upon the check. The operator now moves the lever G longitudinally on the rod G until the pointer G3 indicates on the iirst letter on the graduation H corresponding to the amount to be written. For instance, if the amount of the check is five dollars, then the operator first moves the pointer G3 to the letter F on the graduation H, so as to bring the die C representing the letter F directly under the anvil F, which now stands in a forward position, with the bell-crank lever F5 at the left, as indicated in Figs. 2 and 5. The operator now presses the finger-piece G2 to impart a swinging motion to the lever-frame I to actuate the anvil F, as previously described, so as to depress the dies C and cause a perforation in the check corresponding to the let-v ter F. (See Fig. 9.) When the lever G is released, the several parts move back to their former position, as above explained, and the operator now shifts the lever G until the pointer G8 stands on the letter I'of the graduation H. The operation is then repeated-that is, the lever G is pressed downward to the bottom of the notch G4 to cause the an.

vil F to press the die C representing the letter L The operation as above described is repeatedthat is, the lever is shifted longitudinally to bring the pointer successively to the letters Y V and E and then to the spaces marked at the right-hand end, so as to shift-the check, as described, without making a perforation, and then successively to the letters D O L L A R S, the lever being pressed after each shifting, as above explained, to cause a perforation in the check representing iive dollars. When this has been done, the lever F5 is swung to the right to shift the anvil F over to the dies D, and then the lever G is shifted longitudinally to bring the pointer G3 to the numeral 5 on the graduation H', after which the lever is pressed to cause the anvil F to force the dieD representing 5 downward to make such perforation in the check at the proper place. It is understood that other desired characters may be represented on the graduation and the correspondv ing dies, as indicated in the drawings.

Now it is evident that by the arrangement described theamount perforated in the bodyof the check, both in letters and numerals, is not liable to be erased or changed in any manner by unauthorized persons Without destroying the check or rendering the fraud easily detected.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patentl. A check punch comprising a carriage tted to slide longitudinally, a set of perforating letter-dies held on the said carriage,a

set of perforating numeral-dies held on the said carriage, means for shifting the carriage, and a slidable anvil adapted to engage the corresponding die of either set of dies, substantially as shown and described.

2. A check-punch comprising a carriage fitted to'slide longitudinally, a set of perforating letter-dies held on the said carriage, a set of perforating numeral-dies heldon the said carriage, means for shifting the carriage, a slidable anvil adapted to'engage the corresponding die of either set of dies, and means, substantially as described, for shifting the said anvil from one set of dies to the other, as set forth.

3. A check-punch comprising a carriage litted to slide longitudinally, a lever for imparting longitudinal motion to the said carriage, a set of perforating letterdies held on the said carriage, a set of perforating numeral-dies held on the said carriage, an anvil adjustably held to engage either set of dies,

and means for connecting the said anvil with the said lever for shifting the carriage, substantially as shown and described.

4. A check-punch comprising a carriage tted to slide longitudinally, a lever for im parting longitudinal motion to the said carriage, a set of perforating letter-dies held on the said carriage, a set of perforating numeral-dies held on the said carriage, an anvil adj ustably held to engage either set of dies, means for connecting the said anvil withthe said lever for shifting the carriage, and a pair of feed-rollers for shifting the check step by IOO IIO

step, one of the rollers being actuatedy from 1 eraton and connected with the said anvil, to the mechanism connecting the said anvil with shift the latter' from one set of dies. to the Io the said lever on the return stroke of the` latother, asset forth. ter substantially as shown and described. l

5 In a check-punch the combination with GEORGE OTHMAN BROSNMIAM JR two sets of dies of an anvil-lever adapted to Witnesses: swing, an anvil siida-ble on thesaid lever, and ARTHUR' GUNN, a handled lever under the control of the 0p- JAS. B. ROBERTS, Jr. 

